everything else, because we've developed an app for the bike, first bike on the market that has an app that you can tune the bike and manage all the battery in it. the phone will actually talk to you and tell you the state of charge. >> i love the fact you have a goes logo on the electric charge, things that give you a feel. how long does it take to recharge in. >> well, as little as one hour. we can make them equipped with the same system that nissan uses, with the standard onboard charging system seven hours. >> you can advance that up so you don't have to wait around. people are like i don't want to wait. >> it is, but this bike of capable of going 126 miles on a single charge. good for 80% of what people do on an average ride. >> what do i do if i want one? what kind of distribution do you have? >> an emerging dolor network in the united states, 60 dealers and we're here in new york for the ims motorcycle show and several new dealers coming on board just in the area around here coming up as prospects.

really starting to take off. >> i'm going to get on it just to show people as a tall guy. it's not like a little scooter, not a vespa or electric thing, a real, meaty bike. >> a real bike. >> we built it for you, brian. thought about you. had you in mind. >> i'm going to take off. >> thanks so much for coming in. thanks for watching "street signs" as well. guys. "closing bell" is next. hi, everybody. we enter the final stretch. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange. >> all feeling good. i'm bill griffith. good economic news trumped a mix bag of bank earnings which we'll get to, but we're off to the races right now. show you the numbers in a moment here. >> just ahead, huge interviews here on the "closing bell." stay with us. two ceos and two financial giants. john stumpf will be are here and

ebay ceo john donahoe. >> best earnings ever. the dow up 107. the high of the day a gain of 122 points. energy is doing well and disney is the biggest gainer. bank of america though not. it's down 3% after their earnings came out so they are not helping that today but the dow, 13,622. if it closed right there, that would be a new five and a half year high. the s&p, any positive close is another five-year high. for the nasdaq -- s&p up 11 points right now at 1483 and change. major averages staging this late-day rally. can the markets close above the five-year highs. that's what we're talking about here. >> wants us to go higher. clerk it out in today "closing bell" exchange. josh brown, cnbc contributor from fusion analytics and michael farr, cnbc contributor from farr, miller and our own rick santelli. hey, guys, how you doing.

michael fax let's kick this off to you. what do you attribute this very strong rally today. >> i don't think anything in terms of the earnings season, maria, has spooekd spooked the markets at all so we continue in this. perhaps goldilockgoldilocks, a t of lala land, recognized some of the issues, regulatory issues and housing was really good today. the economy is feeling better and investors aren't feeling bad. earnings numbers pretty solid so people are voting with their dollars right now. things are positive. >> for how much longer, mike? you have to admit, a pretty good run for a while now. are we due for a pullback of some kind? >> due for a rest or a pullback, would i say, but i don't think it's anything that looks like it has to be too dangerous. in addition to all the things michael is talking about, the market's refusal to go down when everybody else is saying it's overbought, probably contributed to the fact that we have this give up move higher. chatter today that maybe the republicans won't go down to the

wire and contest the debt ceiling increase. all these things have swept away a lot of nagging concerns and the next thing to worry about is people don't know exactly what the next thing to worry about s is. >> let's turn it over to you. what are you expecting throughout the rest of this earnings season. we haven't had any major blowoffs, but we're not talking about, you know, that great a situation in terms of revenue growth, right? how would you characterize the earnings period? >> well, i think this is really important. all of this is about expectations. we're coming out of this period where investors have ripped a quarter of a trillion dollars out of stocks in favor of bonds. now they are looking at that three-year performance number of let's say the aggregate bond index and the stock market, and they are saying, you know what? earnings, fiscal cliff, all of these things that have kept me on the sidelines, truthfully the expectations just aren't that

high. we've already walked down the q4 numbers very quietly, and keep in mind we're hitting the new highs in the face of things that people said would not be possible, so as a for instance, we do not have a deal on the debt ceiling yet. we have no idea what sequestration would mean. apple is leading the market. actually gotten killed. all of these things would be told and needed to be in place in order for the market to go up and are not. i think the story here is very low expectations and investors looking at that three-year number, five-year number and saying the market is way more hospitable than i thought it would be and i need to do something different than what i've been doing all this time. >> all right. rick santelli, your take on this day. your landscape is bigger than just equities. treasury yields have been ticking up. currencies are going higher against the dollar and oil is going higher. what do you make of what's going on today? >> well, one thing just said that has a common denominator with all of those, of course, is liquefying and central bank activity whether it's bank of japan, europe, we see interest

rates are up. went from 180 to testing 190. the bund violated 160, hasn't done that for a while. europe's growth is calming down and foreign exchange, all about whose printing press is faster. breached 120 on the euro, a big deal. breached 90 on the dollar/yen so the japanese are definitely devaluing their currency, but to be fair, it was just last year that the dollar reached a record low on the end, so if you take a wide enough view, you know, the japanese aren't mistaken, say, and they are just trying to price it more accurately. the problem is once this machine gets going of printing and weakening, how does it ever stop? >> yeah. how much of this rally lately that we've been talking about here has been fundamental and how much is just the greasing by the fed, do you think? >> well, look, i think the liquidity backdrop is the ultimate context where all the rest is going on.

we've had bad enough economic scares with this much or almost this much central bank liquidity where the market had no trouble not going up, so i don't think it can be explained by one thing or another. talking about five-year highs, since april 2nd of next year up less than 5%, not necessarily as if we've torn our way to some massive runaway gains. i feel like we're just kind inform an accommodative mood right now and, you know, the fundamentals are good enough to have that liquidity find its way into riskier assets. >> where do you want to be exposed to when you look at this market here, josh brown. how are you invested? >> you know what's beautiful about this advance is that it's been really a story of rotation. every two or three days it seems we're getting a new leadership group so the banks had their moment and then tech had its moment. right now energy looks like it's gaining strength, and energy was one of the worst performing sectors of 2012. i really think that this is an area that deserves another look. my favorite name in energy is

chevron, about to fill a vicious gap down from october. 115 a share. this thing is only half the size of exxon mobil, a higher dividend and a huge war chest of cash. this is the kind of stock that people selling bonds will go into first because it is a bond-like equity in terms of its yield characteristics and its relative safety and stability, so i like that name, and i like energy in general. >> we haven't forgotten about you, note-taker. michael fax how do you make money in this market? >> you continue to invest in those companies with solid balance sheets. i continue to play defense. i listen to rick and mike and josh, and what i'm also hearing out of michael santoli and rick santelli, kind of a test, same day, come on, guys. when i listen to them both i'm hearing that bullish markets, bull market psychology. there's a certain complacency that comes along with a bull market where people begin to discount bad news. you throw bad news up and they

say don't worry about that. look at the good points. the reverse happens in a bear market where we embrace the bad news and know there's never a ray of sunshine ever. we're in that discounting phase, and it feels complacent. it's a time to be cautious, so i think balance sheets matter. >> right. >> income matters and earnings really matter. >> very good. >> if you look at -- if you look at that philly fed this morning a great example. the market looked at that and said whatever. >> exactly. >> small caps and mid-caps didn't dip on the news. >> ignoring the bad news and going for the good news. >> real quickly, guys. on the philly fed they had a survey, and their question was are you going to hire next year, and their answers were -- a lot of them said no, we're looking to keep costs down. businesses have learned to generate profits without hiring. this is going to be something to difficult unlearn, toe to speak. >> in this regulatory environment, they have got, to rick. >> i agree, but i think it's going to be nasty every first friday of the month for a while longer. >> all right. >> certainly going to be a lot

of volatility. >> thanks, guys. see you later, gentlemen. >> michael fax he's bilingual, no knew. >> try having to say bartiromo every day. a big pair of bank earnings. a preview of american, press and intel. >> let's start win tell, folks. 45 cents, looking $13.5 billion in revenue. that's not what is important. intel couldn't trade on last quarter's numbers. it trades on forward revenue guide as. that's where the problem might be, so they are looking for 14.5 billion in the fourth quarter. the question is what's the guidance going to be, and a lot of people are concerned it's going to be below the current quarter numbers so 12.5 to 13.5 billion a lot of people are looking at. at 12.5 billion or below there's a problem for intel. american express, unfortunately, not a lot of sussense. i think it was the 10th last week when they were standing here. pre-announced. didn't tell us but came out at 1.90. the big story is they are getting out of the overall

travel agent business, going to get rid of 5,400 jobs. the good news in that report was 8% increase in card member spending. that's good, but, guys, remember, about a year ago they were doing double digit increases so a little bit below that. we'll get a little bit more metrics out of them when they report after the close. finally one note, s&p 500, we're here. five-year highs, historical highs on the russell and transports as well. back to you. >> housing doing great as well. thank you, bob. well, we've stalled a little bit on this rally. the dow was up 122 points and now a gain of 109. we'll keep an eye on this as we head towards the close. >> coming up after the break, our exclusive interview with larry fink, black rock ceo, he'll tell us what's behind the 5% jump. >> and another cnbc exclusive. we'll speak with ebay ceo john donahoe and why mobile payments

could be the key to ebay's success and his company involved in a controversy involving president obama's inauguration. more on that coming up. >> ebay trading at a seven-year high. is there more room to grow? that and much more coming up on the "closing bell" here on cnbc. what's next? he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men.

axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com.

. welcome back. close to $4 trillion. that's how much the world's largest money manager has under management. black rock, the stock today getting a big boost in the session on the heels of fourth-quarter earnings reported. profits were up 24%. investor dollars flowed into the firm's exchange-traded funds boosting business. joining me now on a cnbc exclusive is chairman and ceo of black rock larry fink. larry, wonderful to have you back on the program. welcome. >> hi, maria. >> can you characterize the quarter for us? >> it all worked out obviously, but most importantly we saw behavior change with investors which i kind of talked about over the last year. i think investors are looking at bonds today and are realizing that bonds are not a risk-free

asset anymore. in come categories, if they move 15 basis points, you lose your entire year's return, and you're seeing behavior where investors are now saying i need to diversify a little bit from bonds into equities. we used to call that a risk-on trade, and i'm not sure that should be called a risk-on trade anymore. it's really now diversifying your mix of assets, and so we've seen a very large increase in flows and equities, probably the largest we've seen in years, and most of those flows are not going in the active management side. they are going into index and into etfs, and -- and we've been a big beneficiary of that philosophical change and a real investment shift into etfs. >> yeah. it's a great point, larry. talk to us about that. profits certainly getting a boost. talk to us about the difference between the actively managed funds versus the etf business.

the equity etf business -- the equity business has over 5 billion in withdrawals while stock etfs drew in more than 30 billion in new money. we know you've been out there talking to people about the risks of not being in equities. we're actually seeing that shift happen right now. why are they avoid actively managed and going into etfs? >> well, i think it's a change of philosophy, and they are moving into products that will mimic a sector, a region. i think investors are not looking at products that individually invested like individual stocks and then importantly liquidity is still a very important component than etfs because they are trading like stocks. seeing people prefer the liquidity that you can get into an etf versus an actively managed fund or mutual fund. also, we have seen after fees,

many of the well known active managers have underperformed after fees. i don't think that will persist, but i think we're seeing them move into equities but they are still mindful of liquidity, and i think the first step going back into equities is -- is etfs, but importantly, maria, we're seeing systematic behavior change. we're seeing some large-scale global investors are buying equities, and they are doing it more in the index side, and they are doing it both in the index -- institutional index funds, and they are doing it in etfs where they can have much more liquidity to move around that allocation. so i think it's a -- we're not -- some of the investors are not -- have never been an actively managed equity fund, but they have looked for

indexation as a means for finding ways to produce alpha by overallcation in specific products and funds. >> sure. you've got the diversification and the transparency and it's a way to get into stocks. let me ask you. do you think this is sustainable, larry, because all of the challenges and the worries that we talk about, the dysfunction in washington we know we're about to be on the eve of a new fight over the debt ceiling. you've got a slowdown in the global economy. do you still think we're going to see money moving into equities despite some of these challenges knowing that that's exactly what we saw at year end anyway? do you think that it continues? >> well, there's no question. unfortunately, there's continued uncertainty around washington and the actions of washington. i don't believe that we're going to see a continued slowdown in the global economy though. you know, the movement, what you're seeing in japan and the japanese stock market starting to reflect that, you're -- you know, you have the japanese government trying to really reboot that economy. you're seeing the chinese

government and the new leadership trying to reboot their economy, so, if any, you're going to see probably an accelerated economy n.parts of the world i still think we'll have structural problems in europe and all the uncertainty about the united states so i don't believe it's going to be as bad as it sounds. the u.s. certainly may, but i actually think what's going on are -- and this is part of our messaging at blackrock, you need to look beyond the noise of the day or the week or the month. if you have a liability that's a 20 or 30-year liability, why do you care about what's going to happen in the next few months. >> sure. >> it may mean your entry level is higher or lower, but you're missing out, and so, you know, my message a year ago, you have to be in stoks stocks. for those not in stocks, what did we see, the s&p up 15% last year and we're up another 3.5% so far year to date. >> yeah. >> so far equity returns in the first 17 days this career are going to be better than your annualized return in the bond

market, even if bonds are flat. >> that's a good point. larry, let me switch gears a bit and ask you about the changing landscape for financial services. we've been talking a lot on this program about how the major banks and investment banks are entering a different period than they have been in the last several decades. riding this wave of globalization and deregulation. all that have has changed in the next decade. how do you see the industry shaking out? >> well, i think the next two or three years they are in this heir firms.period as they try to the smart firms are going to be bigger and better and more successful in the future. you're going to see a fallout of some of the firms. you see them -- every time you see sea changes, you're going to see a change in the landscape, but i really do believe the u.s. banking system is in probably the best shape they have been in in five or six years. i think most of their drag on their balance sheets are behind them. i think, you know, certainly going to have to live in a much

more heightened regulatory environment, but there is a n for the strong-based banks. there's a need to have the large-scale banks to provide liquidity in the marketplace so i actually believe you're seal this reorientation. but i would not be shying away from some of the best run investment firms. >> sure, sure. larry, as you go around the world and talk about big investors and heads of state, where are the other alternatives in terms of investing today? for a long time we talked about the emerging markets being such a ripe area for growth, and it did get a lot of money, those areas as well, but things have slowed down there. where are you seeing the opportunities globally? >> well, i think the two best opportunities globally are in our backyard. i love mexico. mexico is an incredible growth story. its economy is going to grow between 4% and 4.5% this year. it's an energy story. it's a cheap labor story. and it's a great location story

relative to the united states, so mexico is a great place to be. but, you know, as i've said for the last year, the u.s. will continue to be a great place to invest. we have -- you know, we're near the bottom in our housing market. we're beginning to see real stabilization in housing. our banks are in great shape, and we're going to be an incredible and manufacturing story over the next ten years. having natural gas at $3 of btu versus 11 at 11 and asia 15, we have a distinct advantage over most places in the world, and you're seeing large-scale global companies removing manufacturing to the united states. these are very high quality jobs, and we're going to start seeing more and more manufacturing back in the united states. it's going to take two to three years for all of this to play out. >> right. >> i see some very large seeds for great success in the united states, and i -- i actually think in the next two years we

are going to see a reduction in our unemployment rate. obviously that's going to translate into maybe the fed taking its foot off the pedal. it's going to have other issues around there, and depending on how that plays out over the next three years, you know, we're going toe some sea changes, but in all these outcomes subject to washington getting their act together in the near term, i'm bullish on the u.s. stock market. >> all right. we'll leave it there. larry, great to talk to you as always. appreciate your time today. >> thank you, maria. >> larry fink, ceo at blackrock. stick around, much more on the health of the financial services sector when i speak exclusively with wells fargo chairman and ceo john stumpf coming up in the 4:00 hour. >> the dow was up 122 points. it's up less than 100 right now and keeping an eye on this as we go into the last hour of trading. >> apple under attack. amazon launching a music store that can be used on istores. if apple's itunes is under

attack, what does that mean for the stock? >> ebay ceo john donahoe joins us to explain how he's persuaded consumers to make more bids from their smartphones and tablets coming up. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream...

♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! ♪

[ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. make it worth watching. introducing the 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. welcome back. the market surging on wall street putting the s&p 500 on track to close at another five-year high. bob pisani in the middle of all the action now. over to you, bob. >> look, folks, this is a stealth rally. you're not getting a massive

amount of price movements but just enough to put us into new territory. take a look at full screen. s&p 500, five-year high but more importantly, historic highs. s&p mid-cap and russell 2000, and even the dow transports. banks and consumer discretionary, largely home builders here. the s&p 500 is being helped by regional banks with earnings, fifth third and pnc. take a look at home builders today. great numbers off of the new home sale numbers for the month. highest level -- housing starts numbers. highest levels since june 2008. big issue here though is multi-family continues to lead here. there's the home builders. finally, guys, need to close over 13,610 for the dow industrials to hit a new five-year high. sitting right at it now. >> bob, thanks so much. amazon fires the latest barrage

in its war with apple meanwhile targeting itunes. julia boorstin with the story. julia. >> reporter: that's right. amazon wants to take a bite out of apple's itune revenues by making its mp 3 store songs available to ipod and itouch rusers for the first time. they want to work with the safari browser on the iphone and ipod touch. they can have them show up in their amazon cloud player app. not as's as itunes as users have to go through safari rather than buying directly from an app. amazon is trying to sell content to apple device owners without giving apple the take it takes from ios app sales. access to owners is more important than ever. apple is allowing chinese users to buy credit to buy its devices which opens up a whole new market. back over to you. >> julia, thank you. so which stock would be the better buy right now, amazon or apple?

let's talk numbers on these two tech giants. on the technical side it's richard ross, global technical strategist and on the fundamental side jeff kilburg with kkm financial. jeffrey, what do you think, fundamentally, who looks better these days? >> well, bill, clearly these two companies rule the world in tech and e-commerce but right now they co-exist. outside a few friendly lawsuits, today is the first day to see amazon, to use a term out of the boxing sport, a punchout and from an ownership perspective we hike to look at, you know, put up a chart with a three month performance. look at the annualized groth growth of amazon has been sensational. last decade 28% in revenue but we're looking at profits, and aal has come down substantially so we see apple as a buying opportunity. amazon nears its 52-week high, it's overvalued. >> the fundamental guy put up a chart so you can move into fundamental territory, if you want. who looks better?

>> let's start with the charts. while the companies may be co-existing the technicals are diverging. amazon, a bullish breakout to a fresh all-time high. you see the textbook head and shoulders continuation pattern. we love the fact that we held the 200-day moving average in december and the 50-day and that's a devicisive breakup predicts measured upside to 300. you must own it. the other way on apple. the advantages here are hardware and eco-systems. competitors have caught them on hardware and relative weakness in a global bull market is what you want to sell, not what you want to buy. depth cross on your moving average. >> rich, rich, i don't want to go holyfield and take a bite out of your ear. i think you're wrong. you've seeing the sensational love affair with amazon, it's due to revenue. if you ship out cost of goods, a

quarter percent is about profits and it's all about profits. very compelling to own apple as we dance around the $500 level. you're also being confuse that had amazon is on the coattail of the multi-year highs in the s&p 500. that's why amazon is near its 52-week high. it should come back dramatically. >> we still have the original ip ipad, does the same thing. that's not innovation. >> come on. >> got to get the volumes back in this business and i'll step it up to a new ipad. >> it's getting ugly out there, folks. a smackdown on talking numbers today. thanks for joining us today. >> in the final stretch of trading for the day. 30 minutes before the closing bell sounds. the markets up 103 points on the dow jones industrial average. >> ebay outperforming the rally. ceo john donahoe is here next to

talk with us. >> and a ray interview with chairman and ceo of wells fargors. find out how concerned he may be and we'll get his take on how the debt ceiling fight could threaten the economy. a lot more coming up with john stumpf. stay with us. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you should've seen me today. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when the spx crossed above its 50-day moving average, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i saw the trend. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it looked really strong. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i jumped right on it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 since i've switched to charles schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 ...i've been finding opportunities like this tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a lot more easily. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like today, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was using their streetsmart edge trading platform tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i saw a double bottom form. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i called one of their trading specialists tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i bounced a few ideas off of him. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 they're always there for me. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i've got tools that let me customize my charts tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and search for patterns as they happen. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 plus webinars, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 live workshops, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 research. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 whatever i need. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so when that double bottom showed up, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was ready to make my move.

tdd# 1-800-345-2550 all for $8.95 a trade. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 can you believe it? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i love it when you talk chart patterns. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 trade up to 6 months commission-free tdd# 1-800-345-2550 with a $50,000 deposit. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 call 1-888-292-3787 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and open an account, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 now with no trade minimums.

. ebay stock getting a boost today in today's session. 2012 proved to be the e-commerce pioneer's best year to point. >> how do they plan to keep the momentum going, particularly as competition online and offline heats up? joining us is ebay ceo john donahoe. thanks for joining us. >> great to be here. >> you had a big earnings driver. the turnaround in the markets placed business. what are you expecting out of that side of business, and what really drove the quarter? >> well, we had a strong quarter across the board, but i think the real -- the real story here is the core ebay marketplace is back. this is a business that many were writing off three or four years ago.

it grew 19% in the fourth quarter. strong quarter across the board, across the globe and new user growth is accelerating, and what's happening is people are coming back to ebay or coming to ebay for the first time. they like the new user experience and like what they are getting, and it's driving accelerating growth. >> is that an auction-based marketplace? i wish i had circled this fact when i was reading. back in the day the vast majority of your business was auction driven and a smaller part was e-commerce. now it's switched around. could you start today as an auction-based business? is that model broken? >> i think it's a smaller part of the business. so, you know, five years ago ebay was 70% auction, 30% fixed price. today it's nearly 70% fixed

price and 30% auctions. we estimate about 80% of the items on ebay are new, so what ebay has become is the best marketplace for buyers and sellers to connect around new items. many times they are new items that may be one generation old so think of it as the online outlet mall, and on the way that's done is in fixed price. a very contemporary shopping experience. over half of the items have free shipping. ebay sell remembers providing better service than ever, and buyers like it. it's a very -- it's a very fine selection. something you can't find somewhere else in a strong and growing marketplace. >> and the turnaround in business supports what you've seen elsewhere, the strength, for example, papal. talk to us about that. you're trying to transition pap paypal into a bigger market offline. how do you envision doing that? >> what's happening, maria, is mobile completely changing the commerce landscape.

mobile is blurring the line from what used to be commerce and retail into just one market, commerce. we did over $13 billion of mobile commerce and $14 billion of mobile payments. we expect to do over $20 billion of mobile payments volume and mobile commerce volume next year. and what's driving that is consumers are now using their mobile devices to shop and to pay, whether they are sitting at home on a couch, whether they are on the bus on their way to work, standing in line at a cove shop or even at work under their desk sometimes, and paypal is a way to allow those consumers to pay whether they are online, on a mobile device or increasingly in stores so we're working with many of the largest retailers in the world to help provide a seamless shopping experience for consumers so that they can use paypal in the store or on a mobile device in the store or at home or when they are home on their laptop and that is significantly increasing the opportunity for paypal.

>> i read that with interest, john, because who are these retailers. does it make more sense for them to work through you? why don't they have their own online presence? why can't they have a direct relationship with their customers? why do they need to go through ebay per se? >> in some cases they are getting access to over the 120 million people who have downloaded the ebay mobile app. they are integrating paypal into their mobile experience and leveraging paypal. we have a pilot going with jamba juice and one of the points they want to address is people waiting in line. go on your mobile app and you can pre-order your smoothy right there on your mobile device, pay for it and then when you go into the store, your smoothy is waiting for you, walk right around the line and pick it up. what jamba juice likes about

that, gives better service to their customers and makes payments almost a non-issue. >> what do you need though to stay ahead in that -- in that business because you've got lots of people sort of nipping at your heels right now trying to do just, that square and the deal that they did with starbucks? >> well, we start with some pretty strong advantages like 120 million active accounts, active digital wallets, where consumers have at least two financial instruments in them all over the world. we start with direct relationships with over 9 million merchants all over the world. we start with a risk system that allows us to approve a payment on the spot and scale all over the world in ways that other companies can't do, so we're leveraging those assets and then innovating in our mobile area and offline so we feel very excited about this opportunity, and we're very well positioned because consumers like paypal. >> not in the 20th century anymore, toto.

>> absolutely. this is great. >> before we let you go, wanted to ask you about reports that ebay and craigslist had agreed to stop users from selling inauguration tickets coming up on monday. they have been free. when a congressman gives you your tickets they are free, but they have been selling online for up to their 2,000, and you've agreed to stop selling, yes? >> i believe that's the case. what we typically do is when the -- when the event owner in a major situation like that would not like the tickets resold, we block them. again, we aren't selling them. people are coming and using our platform but we try to be good citizens in doing it. >> you've agreed to stop listing them is what i'm talking about? >> other people list t.sellers list it, but we are preventing them from listing them, yes. >> exactly. good to talk with you. thanks so much. >> thanks, john. >> we'll keep watching. breaking news right now on the developing hostage situation in algeria. let's get right to michelle caruso-cabrera on that. >> reporter: here at the breaking news desk.

algerian state media is reporting that the hostage, the military operation to end the hostage situation in eastern algeria has ended. once again, this is according to algerian state media which is also reporting that two brits and two filipinos were killed at the amenas gas plant in eastern algeria. we cannot confirm this, only according to reports being watched by the associated press who happens to be on the ground there and other individuals who are watching the news there. algerian tv saying that an operation we believe began about ten hours ago by the algerian military to free all we know are dozens of hostages, which include as many as seven americans, began with ten hours ago, they say that that has ended, and so far four casualties. earlier in the day the islamic militants in control of the site had said there were dozens who had been killed, so we'll have to wait and see exactly what's happened but right now algerian state media has said it has come to an end, a natural gas plant

that's a co-joint effort between british petroleum, stat oil of norway a norway. back to you guys. >> prime minister david cameron from the uk also said expect bad news. >> and hillary clinton warned as well saying we hope to get out of this situation with as little loss of life as possible. >> thanks, michelle. see you later. heading towards the close. 15 minutes left in the trading session with the dow. up 106 points. >> s&p 500 on pace to close at another five-year high. the dow could also land at a five-year high as well. our next guest says this rally is just getting started. that bullish call coming in next. >> and the government grounding the dreamliner until the battery problem is fixed. more coming up.

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. office superstore ink retailer in america. now get $6 back in staples rewards for every ink cartridge you recycle when you spend $50 on hp ink. staples. that was easy. with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed,

possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. you know who is not really surprised by this ral? our next guest, he's going to look at camera seven when he talks about this. according to s&p's sam stoval the market appears to be setting up for a breakout but what about the puckhave been looking for in is that off the table right now. we want to know.

>> joining us is danny huse from devine capital who may be a bit more cautious. sam, good to see you. let's kick this off with you. you've been bullish on this market. this market has been going up. how do you see it going forward? >> i can't take all the credit for the call. our chief technician fully believes the market has set itself up for a sharp advance higher. our investment policy committee has a year-end target of 1550 so 8.5% price appreciation from the beginning of the year, but i've got to tell you, after hitting a five-year recovery high, history says, but does not guarantee, that we could be up another 11.5%. >> wow. >> heard bullish calls like that from others. >> we've been buyers in the market and have seen the stocks rise as well, but make no mistake. you know, the equity markets are attached by an umbilical cord to all of the central banks, you know, and that's a big reason why we've seen stocks rise and we're starting to see companies

start to dial it back and give us warnings and tell us, you know, we're concerned about what the environment is going for at citigroup and schlumberger. >> what do you think this market rally is about? why are we going higher and setting five-year highs on these averages? >> people get a sense of comfort. they feel like the end is near. seeing things like manufacturing. 0.8% in december following 1.3% rise in november so people are starting to feel the ice come off, and i think there's been a lot of money on the sidelines that's just starting to step back into the market and that's going to help the stock market rise as well. >> i think she makes a great point on the central banks and how they are so connected to the markets here. that's really what it's about. haven't seen any major, major recoveries. on the bottom in terms of gdp growth and seen a bit of a housing turn but for the most part anything more dramatic more

than that? >> more of a central bank driven, liquidity driven market environment, not in my opinion, just people are breathing a sigh of relief that this fed is not doing what the fed did in the late 1930s by tightening credit and worrying about inflation. >> do fundamentals not matter right now? >> fundamentals do matter, and i think the market is looking beyond the valley to say six months from now the fundamentals, as they are improving now, will continue to improve. >> who does s&p thinks leads us higher? which sector do you like best? >> cyclicals, consumer discretionary, great retail sales came out recently. industrials should do well because we're moving towards the middle phase of the economic cycle. >> the other side of the question for you, what may be the groups that are challenged? what do you want to avoid if you are worried that perhaps fundamentals are not living up to the valuations. >> oil, oil service and the consumer can get hurt here, too. don't forget about the taxes coming to fruition here as well, but what we're seeing here is kind of a united states

corporate america that's really focusing on america, on building jobs. walmart saying they are going to spend $50 billion over the next ten years on u.s. goods. apple saying that they are bringing back manufacturing to the united states from asia, ge for the past couple of years, billing factories in the u.s., and i think we'll continue to see that which gives people a comfort level. it's buy american again, and i think that that helps move us forward. >> very good. sam, thank you, i'll see you on the countdown coming up in a few minutes here. >> thank you so much. ten minutes before the closing bell sounds for the day. a market holding on to the gains. up 96 points, shy of the high of the afternoon. >> mortgage banking revenues surged by 71% at bb&t, but if refis drop off, what happens to their bottom line? we'll speak with ceo kelly king. >> and later i'll speak with the ceo of the nation's largest mortgage originator. john stumpf will tell us if he thinks the housing comeback can

survive this volatile economic environment. back with more on the "closing bell." to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪ the all-new cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year. ♪ for a limited time, take advantage of this exceptional offer on the all-new cadillac ats.

nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office.

for the rally, looking for an old rally cap to put on. we had to dust off an old dow 10,000 for the rally cap of the

day. i will say, with the rally we're seeing right now, if we show you the leaders among the s&p 500 today, the best performers, it's a good cross-section. there's no concentration in any one sector. you've got cbs, big lots, kla-tencor, pulte, blackrock, no trend except they are all going on. >> the asset managers benefiting from the new money coming into stocks. asset managers showing momentum. economically sensitive names doing very well. media companies on the heels of some expectations that advertising picks up as well as we're all expecting that we see better economic numbers later on in the year, second half of the year for sure. >> here at the big board leaning towards the financials once again and the home builders are showing up in the -- in the dow leaders here today. >> and ge. >> ge as well. >> ge reports earnings tomorrow. disney's been the best performing stock among dow components today. it's up almost 2% and home depot

is up 2% as well, and it is -- they are bringing it in on the close here at this point. we've got about five minutes left. come back with the closing countdown with the dow up 90 points. >> after the bell, wells fargo ceo and chairman john stumpf is here with me for a rare and exclusive interview to talk about the mortgages and the evolving landscape in banking. where pay cuts and layoffs are the new reality at certain firms. >> and intel earnings coming out at the top of the hour. we'll find out how much the slumping pc market has affected the chip-maker when the ceo joins us in her first ever cnbc interview. usual watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth!

♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance

and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. two minutes to the close. here's where we were trading today this. rally that we saw, the peak came a couple hours ago with the dow up 122 points. we've been pulling back since that time. let me show you what was at stake. we talked about these five-year highs. the s&p, any positive close of a five-year high. for the dow though you go back to before the financial crisis, to the end of 2007 when we were at around 13,610 or so. just below that right now. we're very close. if we could get a couple points above this, we would do much better so we're getting close to the five-year hig